When to Use the OTB Recap Report

When you need a quick view of how much Open-to-Buy (OTB) you have available each month at the class level, the OTB Recap is the best report to use.

Why Use the OTB Recap?

The OTB Recap provides a clear and concise monthly view of your business, including:

• Forecasted Sales

• Markdowns

• Inventory

• On Order

• Open-to-Buy (OTB)

Common Use Cases

This report is especially useful when:

• Preparing for market and need to understand where and when you have open dollars

• Working with a vendor and planning purchase orders

• Ensuring your sales and marketing strategies align with when merchandise is scheduled to arrive

• Monitoring your buying position to stay aligned with your plan

Important Call-Outs

• The report can be viewed in Retail or Cost—you can toggle based on your preference

• On Order must be entered for OTB to calculate accurately

If On Order is not being maintained, your OTB will not reflect your true buying position.

If you need help setting this up, we recommend scheduling time with our team—we’re happy to assist.

How to Find the Open-to-Buy (OTB) Recap Report

The Open-to-Buy (OTB) Recap reports—both Month-to-Date (MTD) and End-of-Month (EOM)—can be found in the Retail Orbit Report Library.

Steps to Access:

1. Navigate to the Report Library

2. Select the On Demand tab

3. Locate the OTB Recap report

Viewing Options

• Select View Report to open the interactive version of the report

• Click the Generate (purple circle) and Download icon to export the report as a PDF or Excel file

OTB Recap Versions

There are two versions of the OTB Recap report:

• Month-to-Date (MTD): Provides a real-time view of your current buying position during the month

• End-of-Month (EOM): Provides a finalized view of your buying position after the month has closed

How to Set Up the OTB Recap Report

Like many reports in Retail Orbit, the OTB Recap can be customized using the Report Controls to tailor how and what data you want to view.

Report Controls Overview

Within the report, you can adjust the following:

• Hierarchy view

• Locations

• Categories

• Classes

Selling Days

Adjust the selling days to define the time frame you want to analyze.

This allows you to align the report with your planning window or current business needs.

Report Version: MTD vs. EOM

You can also choose which version of the report to view:

• MTD (Month-to-Date): Provides a real-time view of your current buying position

• EOM (End-of-Month): Provides a finalized view after the month has closed

Retail vs. Cost

You can choose how to view your data:

• Retail: Reflects selling price and top-line performance

• Cost: Reflects inventory investment and margin impact

Detailed vs. Basic

You can choose how to view your data:

• Detailed View: Displays full reporting metrics

• Basic View: Displays OTB only for a simplified view

Filter for Specific Data Points

You can choose how to view your data:

Training Videos

Below are videos that provide additional detail and real-world use case examples to help you better understand how to apply these reports in your business.

For the best viewing experience, please watch the videos in full-screen mode.

How to Read and Use the OTB Recap Report

• What is Open-to-Buy (OTB)?
• Inventory Deviation (Inv Dev)
• Questions to ask yourself while using this report and some decisions you can make from it

• Looking at the report in more detail at a lower level
• Use case for a specific class for a specific time frame
• What does the current inventory tell you? - are you overbought or overstocked. Is inventory old or is there too much on order? 

• Use case for a specific class, during a designated time frame
• How to highlight certain data points
• Difference between the basic & detailed filter